


And Yet Abide the World!

by Red_Lipstick



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dave and Kanaya also spend a lot of time together but like platonically, Fantasy, M/M, Minor Rose/Kanaya, Quadrant Vacillation, Some of the trolls and humans will be added later, There will be a lot of fantasy species, While other trolls will be a completely different fantasy species, also some of the trolls are still troll-like?, its a wack fantasy setting, quadrants are kinda here? But I also kinda changed them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21716305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Lipstick/pseuds/Red_Lipstick
Summary: Six months ago Dave Strider, one of the kingdoms most promising knights, had been not only expelled from his knighthood,  but almost run of his home as well. The blame for such misfortune lays solely on himself and his own negligence. He now lives a solemn life with his twin sister, in a city filled with other history nerds just like her. A city that surrounds a woman older than recorded history. A woman that guards a metal door that’s almost as old as her. And Dave has just made an appointment to meet with her.
Relationships: Dave Strider & Karkat Vantas, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	And Yet Abide the World!

Dave had assumed that someone out there would have the decency to maintain a clean pathway where culturally defining landmarks were concerned. But the bushes and brambles he had been wading in for the past five minutes claimed otherwise. As greenery bumped up against his ankles, he cursed himself for not wearing boots, and wondered how many different types of plant-induced rashes he’d have to deal with later. If the path leading up to main attraction was in this state of despair, he could only imagine that the endlessly mystifying landmark wasn’t nearly as majestic as he had previously thought. And wasn’t that just depressing. 

His sister’s voice piped up unhelpfully in his head, _even the greatest men of old legends were painfully ordinary_. He even remembered how piffy she sounded when she said it, and remarked in the moment that while the saying was still as piffy as hell, maybe he should’ve taken it closer to heart before enduring the trek up the claustrophobic hill side. 

At last, Dave took note of how the loose soil under his feet turned solid. The pathway led up to a break in the dense trees where he could clearly see that between the stones in ground, there grew green and yellow strumsnaps. A type of plant that definitely wasn’t native to the area. The stones themselves were also quite strange, each of them artificially similar, and reminded him of tiny bass clefs. 

When he reached an open clearing, the sun was brighter than he remembered it being. His skin sang with the feeling of it. He also felt immense gratitude for the sunglasses strapped to his face (and made a mental note to clean them later). But in the moment he was also struck still. _So this is what all those bards were yammering about_ , he thought when he looked upon the tall spire. Pure, grey rock, with a big ass metal door. The door was noticeably immaculate underneath vines and moss. The bolts and carvings, although ancient with their foreign swirls, looked as though they had been made yesterday. However, the most wonderous part of it all was the tall woman who stood in front of the door. The woman called The Spire Guard. 

“Are you the one with the appointment?” She addressed him. Her voice reminded Dave of chimes, delicately bumping against each other in the wind. It was a stark contrast to her towering horns, as curved and alien looking as the door behind her.

“... Yeah that’s me. Dave Strider, the one and only.” He slowly stepped onto the soft, trimmed grass. 

She giggled, “You know, that’s usually what they call me.” 

“What?” Dave stopped, confused. 

“The one and only? As the last of my kind I find that I am truly the only one.” Her jade eyes sparkled against the paleness of her skin. Two sharp teeth poked out under her top lip as she gave him a secretive smile. Dave laughed quietly back.

“Yeah, yeah, of course. This is a meeting for only the most insanely unique of people.” 

“Of course, as you can see I’m not like other girls, as there is literally no other girls of my species.” They laughed together. Dave thought he knew what he was getting into when he came here, he _had_ read a couple of historians’ transcripts, but she held a completely different presence in real life. She seemed a bit less dignified, and a bit more like a cool aunt. The only thing that really broke the illusion was the massive crystal claymore that she carried casually. 

“Do you get to use that joke a lot?” 

“Yes, quite. I fear some of the researchers that come to visit me have become bored of hearing it. But from what I have heard, you are no such researcher.” She never once stopped looking straight into his eyes. Dave started to fidget with his fingers. “And yet, curiously, you have an appointment outside of the public visiting hours. May I know the nature of this meeting?” 

“My sister, Rose, is a historian that lives in Leberlilly so she was able to get me an in.” He paused, trying to figure out how to phrase his words. Her eyes and head made a motion that implored him to continue. “And I just thought it would be cool to hang out with you or something.” It was left unsaid that Dave didn’t really do well in crowds, but he thought that she didn’t need to know that little detail. 

“Interesting, have I met your sister before? Your last name does seem a bit familiar to me.” Her hands shifted a little on the hilt of the sword where they permanently rested. 

“Uh, I don’t think so? She said that she doesn’t want to bother you. Besides, we don’t have the same last name.” 

“Well, Dave, I have almost never felt bothered by anyone who has come to visit. Tell her that I am especially excited to see new faces.” She sounded so sure of herself, that she could just invite random strangers to see her. Dave supposed that that kind of certainty would come with being hundreds of thousands of years old. 

“She’s kinda weird, at the top of her field of researching bullshit that only huge nerds care about. She doesn’t do any magic herself, but she’ll bore you to sleep with the history of runes.” 

“Contrary to your beliefs, it is impossible for me to fall asleep.” She stated straight-faced. “And I also happen to consider learning about any new thing, to be an entirely joyful experience. But enough about your sister, would you mind telling me some things about yourself?”

The conversation from then on, devolved into a series of attempts from Dave to avoid talking about anything too substantial. To mention in any way that, for the past few months, he’d been a human disaster. 

He liked playing the harp, he liked pressed apples, he liked looking at the illustrations within stories, he liked buying new clothes, he had an encyclopedic knowledge of different types of birds, and he knew a ton of different types of language spells that he would implement within his fast-paced prose rhythm, that he would then later translate into songs. He liked swords.

Her face set into a mildly amused smile as he followed each and every conversational fancy. Though as expected, she had a thing or two to say about the topic of swords. 

“Swords? Well I’ve never been very fond of them myself,” she said plainly in response, as if what she said didn’t shatter Dave’s entire world. 

“What?! You can’t tell me the most famous swordswoman to ever live, doesn’t like swords.” The very notion to him was ridiculous. There were whole genres of music, of poetry, of paintings, of tiny wooden replicas devoted to her and her sword. 

“I just did tell you. I must say that I’ve heard about all of the new types of weaponry that have been invented, and as a result it makes me feel that a sword is lacking something.” 

By this point in the conversation, Dave had sat down while she remained eternally planted with the sword. He stared level at the hard crystal that shone and reflected light. 

“Swords are just one of the coolest things to our primal brains though. Like how much better can it get than a very long, sharp stick that we can hold and swing around.” 

She hesitated for the first time within their conversation. Rubbing her fangs against her bottom lip. “I guess lately I’ve been thinking about all the things I haven’t seen. That would be the consequence of standing in one spot. Swords are all I’ve known, what if I was better at a different weapon that I just was never able to try?” 

“See, I’ve traveled a ton and I still haven’t seen anything that’s nearly as aesthetically and functionally pleasing as a sword.” 

She seemed to turn that thought around in her head for a couple moments, before her face lit up. “Oh! Excuse me if this is out of turn, but would you happen to be related to Dirk Strider? He was another swordsmen who came to see me a while back.” She hurriedly said the words, appearing almost a bit frazzled. 

But Dave wasn’t present enough to notice the shift in her demeanor. As soon as he heard that name his eyes started to glaze over, and his brain turned into a mess of sharp and tangled wire. Poking out and shedding sparks. 

“Uhh, well, yeah he’s my brother.” He took note of her concerned eyes. _Oh god_ he thought _do I look scared?_ “I haven’t seen him in a while though. What did you two talk about?” He wanted to yell out _what did he say?_

“He was extremely interested in my sword. He seemed very knowledgeable about it, even commenting on its craftsmanship.” Her feet rocked a little, and her hands flexed. 

“Did he say anything else?” Dave asked in an increasingly pointed tone. She could feel the intensity of his eyes from underneath the glass and metal. 

“He... was very bold, said that he could wield my sword better than I could, and” She stopped abruptly. “That was all…” 

“Okay ... okay.” He took a deep breath. He tried to remember the exercises Rose taught him when he got caught in his head. 

Dave didn’t really believe her, but he really didn’t want to know what else she could’ve said. He laid down to spread out his body onto the grass. The sun was starting to set, a mix of red and orange blended across the sky. The bulky trees around the spire encased them in their own little world.

“Sorry he was such a rude piece of shit, you could’ve knocked him down within seconds.” He said all while staring at the clouds. 

“Do not apologize for something you did not do. I absolutely despise such a habit.” She whispered back. 

She watched him slowly fizzle and burn out. Tears came out to dampen his mind and heart. She stood, startled at his lazy crying, he didn’t move to wipe the droplets as they peaked out from behind his shades. 

“Are you okay?” She asked. Her voice sounded much louder and clearer than before. 

“Heh, I don’t think I’ll even be able to convince me that I’m okay. But. Whatever.” A warbily smile spread his face. “Here I am, having a breakdown in front of the oldest living being on the planet. I guess that’s one to knock off the bucket list.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She ventured carefully. 

“Nah, not really.” 

“...Do you want to touch my sword?” As she asked it, Dave gathered himself up so he could look at her again. His smile was sharp, even as the tear tracks were still left on the sides of his face. 

“Woah that’s bit forward.” He said, mock-offended. Her facial features snapped into focus, while tilting her head to give the impression of frustration. Never, not once, taking her eyes off of him. 

“Yes, yes I know, phrasing, now do you want to touch it or not? I do not offer this to everyone.” She lifted the sword with ease, so that its blade was parallel to the ground. It was easily bigger than Dave. Maybe even twice as big.

“Sure.” He got up from the ground, very mindful of the blade, and softly put his hand on a smooth part. It felt weird to be watched while doing this, but he felt it worth it to feel the magical hum of the sword. He could sense a cold kind of magic reach into his bones. It was completely different from any other weapon. 

Seeing it like this, he realized it wasn’t so much a sword, but a sharp hunk of crystal with two poles sticking through it to make up a makeshift hilt. He was reminded of the sword’s historical context. The knowledge that it had killed countless millions. That she had killed countless millions. Each one of them documented through her own words. They did not die out of any hatred or any of her other emotions for that matter, but because she was obligated to protect the door behind her. Humans were too stupidly curious as they had attempted to open it again, and again, and again. Leaving generations of kings to try to claim the land beneath her feet, generations of soldiers sent to harass her, and generations of philosophers to wank off to the questions it raised. 

He then at once, took his hand off. 

“Thank you, for the oddest and yet most spiritually fulfilling moment of my life, but I gotta bring home dinner to the missus. The missus being my cranky and starved sister.” Dave said, all distraught wiped clean from his face. 

“Of course, you wouldn’t want to keep her waiting, farewell.” She said while bringing the sword back down to her side. They shared tired smiles. 

Dave moved to turn around, but she spoke up again. 

“There is a pathway around the back of the spire,” Laughter hiding in her voice, “It is one that the researchers use and is, admittedly, a much easier way of getting down the hill.” 

“Oh, thanks.” He moved past her to go around, but then she shot out her hand and grabbed his arm before he could leave. It was the closest they had been all day, and she was still staring right at him. 

“My name is...” she whispered so softly that Dave could hardly hear it, “Kanaya. I hope you schedule another appointment soon. I would love to hear about your travels” And then she let him go. 

###### 

His body was in a haze as he went down the pathway, down the depths of his brain. No one knew her name. It was never recorder, ever. And now he knew it. 

Her name was Kanaya. 

_Her name is Kanaya._

He wondered what the hell he was even supposed to do with that information. It was left unspoken, but he knew there was no way he could go around telling other people. The thought left him very anxious. With how bad his verbal slips were, who’s to say that he wouldn’t drop her name in casual conversation by accident. Dave could only start to ponder why she would tell him her name in the first place.

Dread pooled in his stomach, and sloshed around until he thought he was actually going to be sick. 

When he got to his sister’s house, her overgrown vines, and prim hedges only served as another reminder of what had transpired. In fact, there were a scary amount of similarities between how Kanaya and Rose held themselves. _Maybe I ought to introduce them to each other._

Rose was sitting in her big, comfy chair in the sitting room by the door. Reading while bouncing her leg, not looking up once. 

“So you finally decided to come home?” She asked.

“I know, it’s my turn to cook. Are you gonna make me write a 500 word essay on how I made you suffer while I was gone?” 

“1000 words, double spaced, in Arch-mage new edition font. It better be on my desk by tomorrow at midnight,” she poked her head up from her hefty book. “And I would like peasant soup for dinner please.” 

He saluted her “I’ll get on that right away m’lady.”

As he started to prepare the food, Rose sidled up to the kitchen table. 

“I take it that your appointment went well.” She rested her chin on her propped elbow. The very picture of motherly patience. 

“It went okay. Me and the guard are now tighter than a pair of harpies during nesting season.” He said, mindlessly mixing the broth. 

“The guard and I” She fixed his grammar with a smile. “Did you pester her about the door?” 

“Damn don’t worry, I’m pretty sure we talked about everything but the door. I wouldn’t discuss that dumbass door unless I wanted to get my head minced and served with your peasant soup.” 

“Juust making sure. I want to be on the lookout for more people that will put curses on our family name.” Unfortunately for Dave, Rose wasn’t even being irrational. He knew that having curses placed on him was an all too real fear now. He just chose not to think about it too hard. 

He chose not to think about a lot of things these days. 

He stopped stirring. 

“Hey actually, would you be able to get me another appointment with her?” He asked, looking straight into her eyes. Then he noticed how weird it was to stare and quickly looked back at the broth. He was starting to think that meeting with Kanaya really did mess him up in some way. 

“That should be no problem. Did she have some interesting things to say?” Rose raised her eyebrow. 

“I guess. I think she’s a nice person to talk to.” He replied with a shrug. Dave thought that if he could just keep it casual, Rose wouldn’t suspect a thing. Hopefully. 

“Then I‘ll try to get you an appointment for next week.” Rose looked to side, almost bashful. “I’m glad you have someone to talk to.” 

“She’s not my therapist Rose, she’s just chill. She said she wanted to hear about my travels and stuff too.” 

“Okay, yes. I understand. She’s just chill.” She said, still smiling. Dave nodded his head, and then grabbed the spoon and continued to stir.

All the while, they both secretly thought about the guard, her sword, and big, unopened metal door.


End file.
